Impression ribbon and method op making same



Sept. 20, 1966 w, PLQEGER, JR 3,273,686

IMPRESSION RIBBON AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 10, 1964 United States Patent Ofiice 3,273,686 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 3,273,686 IMPRESSION RIBBON AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Walter Ploeger, Jr., North Bellmore, N.Y., assignor to Filmon Process Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 388,490 8 Claims. (Cl. 197-172) This invention relates to an impression ribbon and the method of making the same. In particular, the impression ribbon of the present invention is of the multi-component type, such as a ribbon capable of selectively transferring an impression in two difierent colors.

Heretofore, multi-component ribbon-s for transferring impressions in two difierent colors have been utilized. The constructions of such multi-component ribbons generally include a ribbon having a longitudinal half inked in one color such as black and a second longitudinal half inked of a different color such as red. In order to prevent intermixing of the inks, various devices have been proposed. One device which has been proposed to prevent intermixing of the inks is to use inks which repel each other. More commonly, the inks are prevented from mixing with each other by using a longitudinal barrier substantially equidistant from the side edges of the ribbon. In such constructions, a conventional one-half inch typewriter ribbon would have a one-quarter inch strip of material inked with black ink and a one-quarter inch strip of material inked with red ink.

The multi-component impression ribbon of the present invention is attained without the use of adhesives to maintain the ribbon in assembled relationship and/ or maintain the ink formulation separate from one another to prevent intermixing. At the same time, the present invention enables a Wide variety of ink formulations to be used Without regard to any problem of intermixing, whereby the strongest possible ink formulations may be utilized for longer life of the ribbon with distinct dark impressions.

The impression ribbon of the present invention provides two separate layers from which an impression may be made. For example, one of the layers may be an inked fabric having a width corresponding to the width of the ribbon while the other layer may be an inked fabric of a different color and having a width corresponding to about one-half the width of the ribbon. Alternatively, the second layer may be a layer of material such as paper having a self-correcting transfer medium thereon. The last mentioned transfer medium is in the nature of powdered white chalk utilized to correct a mistake during typing or printing. Material having a self-correcting transfer medium thereon, per se, is known as camouflage material and is commercially available. Basically, the camouflage material may consist of a tacky mixture of a finely powdered pigment such as titanium oxide with a binder and carrier such as partly polymerized natural oils, waxes, latex or the like.

Provision is made in the present invention to prevent mixing of colors on the two layers having a transfer medium thereon by a fused joint and a barrier which is impervious to the transfer mediums. Preferably, the barrier has a Width which is greater than the width of the second layer. In this manner, intermixing of the transfer mediums will not occur during spooling of the ribbon upon itself.

The multi-component impression ribbon of the present invention is made in accordance with a method which is rapid, inexpensive, reliable and which avoids any possibility of intermixing of the transfer medium.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel impression ribbon and method of making the same.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel multi-component impression ribbon having two spaced layers from which a medium may be trans'ferredas desired.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-component impression ribbon having one layer from which an ink transfer medium may be applied and one layer from which a different transfer medium may be applied as desired.

'-It is another object of the present invention to provide a self-correcting ribbon having an ink transfer portion and a camouflage transfer portion without any intermixing of the transfer medium while at the same time utilizing the .full width of the ribbon for the ink transfer portion.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of making a novel self-correcting ribbon, without use of adhesives, in a manner Which'is positive, reliable, rapid and inexpensive.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of the impression ribbon of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic elevation view of apparatus for making the impression ribbon of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is an elevation view of another embodiment of the impression ribbon of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numetals indicate like elements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 an impression ribbon designated generally as 10. An impression ribbon in accordance with the present invention may be of a width suitable for use in typewriters or may he in greater width suitable for use in other office ma chinery such as tabulators, computers, etc. wherein an impression ribbon is utilized.

The impression ribbon 10 may be an elongated member having a length of approximately ten feet with its ends wound on spool-s. Alternatively, the impression ribbon 10 may be in the form of an endless loop. Impression ribbon 10 includes a first layer '12 adapted to have a transfer medium thereon. Layer 12 may be a layer of nylon fabric and its transfer medium may be any formulation of ink. A second layer of material 14 is juxtaposed to the layer 12.

The layer 14 is made from a material impervious to the transfer medium on layer 12. The layer 14 may be made from a tough ink impervious material such as nylon having a thickness of approximately .001 inch. Layer 14 is preferably a flexible, pliable imperforate ink impervious material. The layers 12 and 14 arejoined together only along their extreme side edges 16 and 18 by a fused joint.

The layers 12 and 14 constructed as described above are described more clearly in my prior Patent 3,010,559. As pointed out therein, layer 14 prevents the type face from contacting the layer 12 and thereby keeps the type face clean. In addition, the fused joints along the extreme side edges only results in a tray-effect which substantially increases the ink capacity of the layer 12 since the space between the layers 12 and 14 constitutes a reservoir for the ink. Since the type face never contacts the layer 12 directly, the type face remains cleaner, the layer 12 will last longer due to lack of contact directly with the type face, and the ribbon has a longer life as well as the ability to transfer clearer darker impressions.

In addition to keeping the type face clean, the layer 14 prevents the transfer medium from accumulating on the winding posts of various pieces of ofiice equipment such as computers and the like. In this manner, down time necessary to clean the equipment is eliminated or substantially reduced.

The impression ribbon includes a third layer 22 having a transfer medium thereon. The transfer medium on layer 22 is preferably different from the transfer medium on layer 12. Thus, the respective transfer mediums may differ in color, composition, formulation, etc. In a simple form of ribbon 10, the impression ribbon 10 may have black ink as the transfer medium on layer 12' and red ink as the transfer medium on layer 22.

When the transfer medium on layer 22 is ink, layer 22 is preferably a nylon, Dacron, or similar fabric. When the layers 12 and 22 are made with nylon fabric, the thickness of the fabric will be greater than the thickness of the layers 14 and 20. Thus, nylon fabric for the layers 12 and 22 may have a thickness of about .004 inch. A barrier layer 20 is disposed between the layers 12 and 22. Layer 20 is preferably identical with layer 14 and has a Width which is slightly greater than the width of layer 22 by a distance of approximately of an inch. The layers 12, 14, 20 and 22 have one longitudinally extending side edge in line with one another and joined together only at said one side edge by a fused joint indicated by the dark line along the edge 18. Thus,

since layer 20 is joined to the layers 12 and 22 only along its extreme side edge, layer 22 does not detract from the absorbency of the layers 12 and 22. The of an inch extension of the layer 20 beyond the layer 22 is designated as 19 and performs the function of preventing intermixing of the transfer mediums on layers 12 and 22 during normal usage as well as during spooling of the ribbon 10. During spooling of a ribbon, there is a slight amount of shifting which is generally less than of an inch. Thus, extension 19 avoids any intermixing of the transfer mediums while the ribbon is spooled. Since there can be no intermixing of the transfer mediums as a result of the extension 19 and the fused joint along one side edge of the ribbon 10, the strongest possible ink formulations may be utilized as the transfer mediums on layers 12 and 22. Layer 22 has a width which is one half the width of layer 12. Thus, when the impression ribbon is a typewriter ribbon, layer 12 will have a width of one half inch and 'will have an ink supply which is at least twice as great as the ink supply on the black or blue half of a conventional two color ribbon wherein the blue or black half has a width of one quarter inch. This is very desirable since the blue or black half of a two color ribbonis used substantially more than the red (or other col-or half), Thus, the impression ribbon 10 for this additional reason will have a longer life span.

The ribbon 10 may be constructed as illustrated more clearly in FIGURES 2-4. As shown in FIGURE 2, layers 12 and 14 joined together along their extreme side edges 16 and '18 and as described in my aforementioned patent may be constructed and wound on a roll 24. Roll 24 is rotatable about axle 26. A roll 28 of the layer 20 is provided on axle 30. A roll 32 of layer 22 is provided on axle 34. These rolls are oriented with respect to one another so that the respective layers may be unwound therefrom by drive rollers 38 and 40 to assume the superimposed relationship as illustrated in FIGURE 3.

As illustrated in FIGURE 3, the layers 12, 14, 20 and 22 are in superimposed relationship. The layer 22 and the layer 20 initially have a Width which is twice as great as the width utilized in ribbon 10. Likewise, the layers 12 and 14 have a width which is twice as great as their widths in ribbon 10. A fused joint is provided along the extreme side edge 17 of the layers 12 and 14. With respect to the side edges 16 and 17, the side edges of layers 20 and 22 are individually substantially equidistant therefrom.

The superimposed layers as illustrated in FIGURE 3 are fed over an anvil 42 and slit in half down the longitudinal center by a heated knife 44. In addition to slitting the superimposed layers, knife 44 provides a fused joint along while forming the side edge 18 on ribbon 10 and at the same time forms a companion fused joint on a ribbon 60. Ribbons 60 and 10 are identical. Ribbon 10 is wound on roll 46 supported by axle 48. Ribbon 60 is wound on roll 50 supported by axle 52. Thus, it will be seen that the impression ribbon 10 is made by a process which results in two ribbons being made simultaneously with substantially no trim or waste.

In FIGURE 5, there is illustrated in section a ribbon 10 which is identical with ribbon 10 except as will be made clear hereinafter. Accordingly, corresponding elements are provided with corresponding primed numerals and no further comment is deemed necessary with respect to the elements identified by elements 16, 18 and 19'. Ribbon 10' includes a layer 54 instead of layer 22. Layer 54 may be a carrier such as a layer of, paper or other flexible material and has a transfer medium thereon which is in the nature of a solid. The solid transfer medium on layer 54 may be a camouflage material as described above for correcting mistakes. In all other respect, ribbon 10 is identical with ribbon 10' as well as the method of making the same. Layers 14, 14, 20 and 20 may be made of nylon, Mylar, polyethylene, etc.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An impression ribbon comprising a first layer of material adapted to have a transfer medium thereon, a second layer of material impervious to the transfer medium on said first layer, said second layer overlying said first layer, said first and second layers being of substantially the same width and joined together by a fused joint only along their longitudinally extending side edges, a third layer of material adapted to have a transfer medium thereon, said third layer being approximately one half the width of said first layer, said third layer overlying one longitudinal half of said first layer, a fourth layer of material interposed directly between said first and third layers, said fourth layer having a width slightly greater than the width of said third layer, said fourth layer being impervious to the transfer mediums on said first and third layers, said fourth layer overlying said one longitudinal half of said first layer, said third and fourth layers being joined to said first and second layers only by a fused joint along the longitudinally extending coextene sive side edges, with all of said layers being made from a pliable material, and the longitudinally extending side edge of said fourth layer which is not joined to the third layer projecting beyond the adjacent longitudinally extending side edge of the third layer.

2. A ribbon in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first and third layers are ink absorbent fabrics, and said second and fourth layers being ink impervious materials.

3. A ribbon in accordance with claim 1 wherein said third layer is a carrier having a camouflage material thereon.

4. A ribbon in accordance with claim 1 wherein said fourth layer has a width which is approximately of an 1I1Ch greater than the width of said third layer.

5. A ribbon in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first layer is a nylon fabric impregnated with ink, and said third layer being a nylon fabric impregnated with ink of a different color from the ink on said first layer.

6. A method of making an impression ribbon comprising the steps of making an intermediate ribbon havmg a first layer of material adapted to have a transfer medium thereon and a second layer of material imper- VlOllS to the transfer medium 'with the layers overlying one another and joined together only at the longitudinally extending side edges by a fused joint, superimposing a third layer of material impervious to the transfer medium over said intermediate ribbon in a manner so that its side edges are substantially equally spaced from and inwardly of the side edges of said intermediate ribbon by a distance of approximately one quarter the width of said intermediate ribbon, superimposing a fourth layer of material adapted to have a transfer medium thereon over said third layer in a manner so that its side edges are substantially equally spaced from and inwardly of the side edges of the third layer, with the width of said fourth layer being substantially equal to the Width of said third layer but slightly narrower than said third layer, and then forming two impression ribbons by cutting through a central portion of all of said layers longitudinally thereof while simultaneously providing a fused joint joining all layers only along the newly formed longitudinally extending side edge.

7. A method in accordance with claim 6 including inking said first and fourth layers with different inks.

8. A method in accordance with claim 6 including using camouflage material as the transfer material on said fourth layer.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,953,316 4/1934 Stark 197-172 2,255,104- 9/ 1941 Dixon 197172 2,263,196 11/1941 Stolle et a1. 2,657,157 10/ 1953 Francis. 2,711,779 6/ 1955 Carland. 2,728,439 12/1955 Murphy et al. 197-l72 3,010,559 11/1961 Ploeger 197-172 3,086,901 4/ 1963 Ploeger. 3,114,447 12/ 1963 Wolowitz 197-172 3,141,539 7/1964 Wolowitz 197172 3,143,200 8/1964 Gutman 197-172 3,156,338 11/1964 Ploeger 197-172 FOREIGN PATENTS 528,589 11/ 1940 Great Britain.

932,937 7/ 1963 Great Britain.

961,108 6/ 1964 Great Britain.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

E. T. WRIGHT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN IMPRESSION RIBBON COMPRISING A FIRST LAYER OF MATERIAL ADAPTED TO HAVE A TRANSFER MEDIUM THEREON, A SECOND LAYER OF MATERIAL IMPERVIOUS TO THE TRANSFER MEDIUM ON SAID FIRST LAYER, SAID SECOND LAYER OVERLYING SAID FIRST LAYER, SAID FIRST AND SECOND LAYERS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME WIDTH AND JOINED TOGETHER BY A FUSED JOINT ONLY ALONG THEIR LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SIDE EDGES, A THIRD LAYER OF MATERIAL ADAPTED TO HAVE A TRANSFER MEDIUM THEREON, SAID THIRD LAYER BEING APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF THE WIDTH OF SAID FIRST LAYER, SAID THIRD LAYER OVERLYING ONE LONGITUDINAL HALF OF SAID FIRST LAYER, A FOURTH LAYER OF MATERIAL INTERPOSED DIRECTLY BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND THIRD LAYERS, SAID FOURTH LAYER HAVING AS WIDTH SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID THIRD LAYER, SAID FOURTH LAYER BEING IMPERVIOUS TO THE TRANSFER MEDIUMS ON SAID FIRST AND THIRD LAYERS, SAID FOURTH LAYER OVERLYING SAID ONE LONGITUDINAL HALF OF SAID FIRST LAYER, SAID THIRD AND FOURTH LAYERS BEING JOINED TO SAID FIRST AND SECOND LAYER ONLY BY A FUSED JOINT ALONG THE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING COEXTENSIVE SIDE EDGES, WITH ALL OF SAID LAYERS BEING MADE FROM A PLIABLE MATERIAL, AND THE LONGITUDINAL EXTENDING SIDE EDGE OF SAID FOURTH LAYER WHICH IS NOT JOINED TO THE THIRD LAYER PROJECTING BEYOND THE ADJACENT LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SIDE EDGE OF THE THIRD LAYER. 